This is a video of our first exercise in aikido. The Japanese name is Tegatana, our common name is walking kata. This exercise is composed of most all the movements found in aikido techniques. These movements are abstracted out of their context and put together in this exercise so we can practice and improve motion efficiency without having to worry about an attacker jumping at us. This is the only solo exercise we do.
This isn't the greatest video,but it is sufficient for my beginning students to get the main idea and begin learning the movements.
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If you like the execution of the exercise, that's me doing the kata. If you don't like it I don't know who that fat guy is.
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Thanks for posting this. My wife is nearing her first aikido belt test, and the walking kata is going to play a major part in that.
ReplyDeleteGlad you found it useful. Are you my visitor from Denton TX?
ReplyDeleteInteresting. We do some similar exercises in our system, and of course one aspect of the kata concerns that sort of body movement. You might find Arakaki's discussion of the subject interesting; he notes that the greatest masters of the Naihanchi kata were sometimes criticized because it looked like they were "only walking."
ReplyDeleteIf I'd had more time, I would've sent you a link to a youtube video you would've found interesting, one that shows some sample techniques from Motobu Ryu Ti. If I can find it later I'll send it. You might be struck at the similarity between the way the old Okinawan Ti and the aiki arts manage mass.
Well, I didn't find the one that I was looking for, but I found one almost as good. You should be able to get the flavor of Motobu Ryu from this little clip.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, isn't it, that those techniques are some of the oldest on Okinawa? Makes you wonder how it is that so many people think Okinawan martial arts are all just kick-punch-block.
We're indeed located in the Denton, TX area, though I've only visited your dojo virtually. I'm not sure what you meant by 'visitor' ;)
ReplyDeleteMy wife is a student of Jack Bieler at The Denton Dojo.
I just see every so often on my mapstats page that someone from denton has stopped by and looked at my blog - of course that can be misleading because there is one reader who logs in in southwest mississippi and his service provider pops up as being in austin TX. Anyway, that's what i meant by visitor.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a great instructor and a great bunch of guys to work out with at denton.
Dan, That clip was, indeed, fascinating. Okinawan aikido. awesome. Whoda thunkit? I'm probably gonna have to post that clip to my blog for everyone to see how cool it is.
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